Your
dog is quietly lying at your side. His head is down, he’s not
asleep but very relaxed. Your dog is blue. He lifts his head up, looks
at you while obviously listening to something outside. Your dog is green.
He gets up and follows you, happy and wagging his tail, as you stand
up and walk towards the door. Your dog is yellow. He leaps in uncontrollable
bursts, all over your guest in greeting as you open the door. Your dog
is orange. He then sees the mean neighbor walking by and charges him,
snapping and lunging. Your dog is now red.
These
are the colors of dog training. What do they mean and why are they important?
The
language of color speaks through emotion, or state of mind. We use color
extensively in our society to elicit feeling. Blues, the color of cool
water and azure skies, are used to create a calm, serene atmosphere.
Greens, the color of plants coming back to life in the spring or a traffic
light that gives you the right to proceed, are used to create a sense
of health, well being and progress. Yellows, the color of sunshine and
ripe citrus fruit, brighten us up and give us energy. Oranges, the color
of construction signs and fire, tend to make us cautious. And finally,
reds, the color of fire trucks, blood, and stoplights, issue immediate
warnings of danger and alarm. Whether we realize it or not, we are constantly
conversing with each other in the language of color.
This
same language can also be applied to the dog-training environment. In
order to help a dog learn, the skillful dog handler must be able to
accurately determine what state of mind the dog is in and when that
state of mind changes. By using colors to portray a state of mind, you
can not only show the student/client what state of mind the dog is in,
but also illustrate how to change that state of mind. It has been an
ongoing problem for all instructors to articulate this concept to their
students/clients. With the language of color, you can virtually “draw
them a picture” of it!
For
example, let’s say you were teaching your students how to paint,
and you wanted them to see the color green. You would mix the colors
blue and yellow together and show them how to make green. This same
idea can be applied to dog handling. The dog represents one color, and
the handler represents another. You can now show your students how to
mix the two. Managing what that color turns out to be is the key to
successful dog handling.
What
color would you want your dog in if you were in a training situation?
It would depend on what you were trying to do with the dog. If you were
working a dog on a long down stay, blue would be nice. When a dog is
in blue, he is relaxed. He may even be a little too relaxed to want
to learn anything new. A blue dog would have his head down and be very
accepting of the prospect of staying there for awhile. A dog doing a
utility signal drop, however, would have to be green. He is down but
really focused on you. He knows that he will be required to do something
and you are the key to what that may be. Green is an open and receptive
mind. It is the perfect color for learning. A dog doing an open drop
on recall would be in yellow. Yellow is energy that is focused. He is
animated and happy but very focused on the handler. A dog that is retrieving
is also very yellow. Any exercise that the dog is active and working
with the owner is yellow. A dog that is orange is not a dog that is
working for, or with, it’s handler. It is a dog that has allowed
a distraction to close its mind to anything the handler is trying to
teach it. And a dog that is in red is a dog that is in a highly reactive
state based on flight or fight. It has already chosen a reaction and
its mind is so geared into survival, it could not possibly learn anything
Look
again at the dog described in the beginning of the article and see how
the dog’s state of mind matches the colors described above. Next,
determine which color the handler is in. While the dog is lying quietly
at his side, the owner is also sitting quietly, engaged in a low energy
level activity such as watching television or reading the paper. He’s
blue. As the owner hears the same thing outside that the dog heard,
he looks at his dog and says: “Hey pup, let’s go take a
look and see what is going on.” He’s green. As the owner
gets up and moves towards the door he becomes more animated, talking
to the dog in encouraging bursts of words. He’s yellow. As he
opens the door, excited and happy to see his guest, he starts grabbing
at the dog, yelling at the dog to stay off. He’s orange. And as
the dog attacks the neighbor, the owner starts screaming, as he becomes
aware of the danger of the situation and his lack of control of the
dog. He’s red.
The
color the handler is functioning in is the most important part of any
training situation. The handler needs to set the tone for which color
he wants from the dog. In all too many situations, the dog sets the
color and the handler responds or reacts in the same color the dog is
in. This is just validation for the dog to continue acting in that color
or, worse yet, go to the next higher energy color.
How
does a handler function in each color? A handler that is blue is very
quiet and calm. His body language is similar to that of a statue. While
in blue, the handler never touches the dog. If he talks to the dog,
it is with monotype vocabulary and always in a quiet, controlled voice.
A
handler that is green feels very connected to his dog. Connected but
absolutely in control. When the handler is in green, the dog can sense
that the handler is in control, and affords him all the respect that
goes with the position of a leader. In green, the handler only touches
his dog as long as he totally controls the touching. His touch is calm
and reassuring to the dog. If he reaches down to pet his dog and it
brings it’s head up to meet his hand, he is not in control of
the touching. If the dog is jumping on him or constantly bumping into
him, he is not in control. A dog and a handler working together in green
can accomplish just about anything!
A
handler in yellow is animated. Most of his communication with the dog
is in quick, short bursts with a lot of encouragement. While in yellow,
the handler changes his body posture as needed to encourage the dog.
He may start an exercise with upright posture, dip into play posture,
and return to upright posture all in seconds. He may even find it advantageous
to run with his dog. His voice may modulate with encouragement but never
goes to yelling. Yellow is active yet still very focused. A dog and
handler working in yellow are having a good time.
A
handler in orange is usually a frustrated person. His energy is fragmented,
often showing up in erratic body language. His voice is also vibrating
with frustration and often will increase in volume until he is literally
shouting at times. A handler in orange makes all kinds of training mistakes.
While training, he stops thinking of constructive ways of accomplishing
his goals and blames the dog for all that is not going right. In plain
words, the handler is out of control.
A
handler in red is not fun to be around, especially if you are his dog!
There is no room in training for a handler in red. Red is a venting
color. The only response the dog has to a handler in red is fear or
aggression.
How
do you change what color your dog is in, so that your training sessions
can be the most productive? As the handler, set your color first. If
your dog is in blue and you want him to be green, set your tone at yellow.
Be energetic, sunny; lift him out of his blue zone into green. As soon
as the dog starts responding in green, the handler must move to green
if that is where he wants the dog to be. Matching color enhances that
color. If the dog is orange and you want yellow, set your tone in green
or blue. Don’t play into the antics of his orange behavior; stay
calm and focused on what it is you are trying to do. Remember, if you
go to the same color the dog is in, you will be enhancing that color.
Too many times, the handler sets his tone to match that of the dog in
an undesirable color. . A dog and handler both in blue will probably
not get anything done. A dog and handler in red is disastrous. If you
want to change the color, get yourself into the proper color first,
so that it will mix with your dog’s color and produce the results
that you want
Being
a good dog handler requires no special artistic talent. By learning
the colors of dog training, however, you can visualize “a picture”
of what state of mind your dog is in and what state of handling you
need to be in. Just as a good artist manages color to produce a beautiful
painting, you can manage your handling colors to produce beautiful training
sessions, performances, and relationships with your dog.
